meeting that ended at 2 a.m. this morning, then got back at it this afternoon. it's been reported they've agreed in principle. nothing has been drafted or signed yet. so until that's done nothing is a guarantee. we'll move ahead as planned. the nfl players association' executive director demorris smith was on cbs today talking about the players' perspectives on the lookout saying this is all just a safety issue for them. >> the way that we look at this issue is a little beyond even a bad call on a monday night. the referees on the field are the first responders for health and safety for a group of players where we know that virtually every player in the national football league will be injured at work. >> of course, all sides want this to be over as soon as possible. if they can agree on a new deal in the next 24 hours, we could possibly see the new refs on the field this weekend. however, derek, you mentioned tomorrow. it's not going to help the ravens or browns.

they face off tomorrow and they'll have to endure at least one more week of these replacement refs. >> let's talk sticking points. there was the issue of pensions and hiring some new referees. has any of that been resolved? >> apparently both sides have budged on both of those issues, on the money issue the retirement fund, the league wanted to take away pensions. it looks like they'll keep them, but the new refs coming in will have to go to a 401k and also adding more refs, they want to add 21 more refs and that would be part of a training program. the current refs were afraid they would have job cuts or budget cuts, but their job is safe and those refs will be there to fill in just in case. there's so much surrounding this, we'll have more in studio later in the show. >> story not quite over yet. thank you. we now know more about the family of four found dead in their herndon home yesterday.

the parents were al and kathy peterson and their sons matt and chris and police say al peterson shot his wife and sons before turning that gun on himself. peggy fox joins us to tell us about how the herndon community is remembering them. peg? >> reporter: well, i can tell you this morning the bodies were removed from the home and about two hours ago police removed the crime scene tape. now it almost looks surreal. the husband and wife's car is still parked in front of the home. the family is gone. there is no sign of the terrible tragedy that happened monday morning here. at the end of what had to be a tough day westfield high schoolteachers and staff gave their students an emotional sendoff as the long line of school buses departed. this morning there was a prayer vigil at west neil to remember their fellow student and friend, 16-year-old matt peterson who is in the 10th grade. there was also grief at rachel carson middle school where his

brother, 13-year-old chris, was an 8th grader. the brothers were killed along with their mother, 52-year-old kathy peterson. police say her long time husband and the boys' father, 50-year-old albert peterson, shot and killed his wife and boys first, then took his own life. >> i was in preschool with matthew and that's how we met and they've just been such great friends. >> reporter: neighbors say they saw no signs of trouble in the home and when one friend's son was born with autism, kathy peterson offered support. >> the petersons always remained our friend, always invited us over. >> reporter: at the petersons' church pastor tom beer hundred says there are questions nobody -- berlin says there are questions nobody will be able to answer. >> no one i know thinks they have any easy answers here. so when someone like a pastor starts to offer easy answers, most of us are fairly suspect of that. >> reporter: there will be a

prayer vigil at 7:30 tonight at florist united methodist church. we understand albert peterson worked for northrop grumman until 2009 and kathy peterson worked for blackburg. however, what we may never know is why this happened, something this neighborhood will continue to struggle with. >> i think it's something we all struggle with, thank you. a major announcement by the national park service today about the repairs to the washington monument and a timetable for getting it back open. a $9.6 million contract has been awarded to a boston-based company, the same team that built the ronald reagan building. our andrea mccarren at today's announcement joins us live with details. lots of people waiting for this, andrea. >> reporter: that's right. you have to enjoy it now without the scaffolding because the repair work here could take as long as 18 months. web cameras will be installed so we can all keep track of the progress.

>> it is beautiful. i'm glad it didn't fall down. >> reporter: barbara and jerry haynes snapped photos of a scaffolding free washington monument while they city could. >> we knew there was -- still could. >> we knew there was damage from the earthquake. >> i said wow. i have to say this registered 7.4 on my richter scale. >> reporter: now two men who each visited the washington monument as children are now leading a team that will repair it. >> thrilled to death. we're very thrilled. in many ways it's one of those signature projects as an engineer, as a construction man, it's something you wait your life for. >> reporter: scaffolding will go up within the next two months with the same design used for the monument restoration in 2000. >> i've heard from a number of people that they liked it so much they wanted to keep it in place. i can assure you that we will take it down as soon as the project is complete. >> reporter: the project is

challenging. the heaviest damage to the monument is between 475 and 530 feet considered the most difficult area to access. now 800,000 visitors come here to the washington monument every year. so repairing it is also important to the local economy. we'll have that story coming up tonight at 6:00. until then live from the national mall andrea mccarren, 9 news now. >> important stuff indeed. thanks. we're tracking storms on the radar right now. topper shutt joins us from the weather center. top, what are you seeing? >> right now it's quiet. all the showers and storms are to north of us, but the front is still way to the north of us. this is the same front we'll have to get used to. it's going to hang around. let's start with a look at the radar. notice all the showers and a few thunderstorms essentially north of the mason dixon line. so through our friends up in pennsylvania and then points north, i mean we're looking at very few showers, a couple dipping into cumberland. that's how it will be a while.

so the evening commute will stay dry. a little touch of summer today. 83 downtown, 82 in manassas, 82 at andrews and even 81 up in frederick. so not bad. so for tonight a shower or thunderstorm possible until about midnight, more to the north, breezy and mild, lows 58 to 64. we'll come back, though, talk about how long this front is going to affect our weather and take it from me. it's going to be a little longer than you might think. let's head out on the campaign trail where the race for the white house is focused today on the swing state of ohio. both presidential candidates are out there today looking for votes. each has already made more than a dozen visits to that critical battle ground state this year. danielle nottingham has the latest from the white house. >> reporter: derek, mitt romney is in ohio for a second straight day and a new poll of swing states shows he's losing some ground there among people who say they will definitely go to the polls in november.

more than 5,000 supporters welcomed president obama to bowling green state university. >> hello, falcons! >> reporter: he told the crowd four more years of his administration would be good for the middle class. >> the country doesn't succeed when only the rich get richer. we succeed when the middle class gets bigger. >> reporter: a new cbs news poll shows ohio voters are listening. the president has opened up a 10 point lead over mitt romney among likely voters in the battleground state. wednesday the president slammed romney's plan to get tough on china. >> when you see these ads he's promising to get tough on china, it feels a lot like that fox saying, un, we need more secure chicken -- you know, we need more secure chicken coops. >> reporter: the new poll also shows a majority of likely voters in ohio, florida and pennsylvania now give president obama an edge when it comes to handling the economy. the economy is governor romney's key issue and in bedford heights, ohio, he

worked to convince voters he has the bess plan for getting americans back to work. >> we -- best plan for getting americans back to work. >> we have got to open more trade to get more good jobs for americansen and i'll do that. >> reporter: the presidents -- for americans and i'll do that. >> reporter: the president and groups supporting him have outspent romney on the campaign in ohio. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. >> reporter: ohio begins early voting next week. the survey shows romney does best among most likely voters on handling the federal budget deficit. at the white house danielle nottingham, derek, back to you. >> thank you. this is literally just into the 9 news now newsroom. we hear mitt romney will be in springfield, virginia, tomorrow campaigning in that key swing state. two events tonight involving the deaths of two high school students in prince george's county.

at 6:00 there will be a community walk at oak creek west community park. investigators will pass out flyers. they're trying to find out more information about the death of amber stanley who was killed last month in her kettering home. then at 7:00 another meeting at central high school regarding the murder of marckel ross. ross was shot walking to school september 11th. police will answer questions about that investigation. one minute you're in the living room with the dog in your lap. the next minute you're dangerously close to having a stranger's honda in your lap. this happened to pat stroh from olney. >> i was sitting in my pink chair with my dog on my lap and all of a sudden i heard the noise and i looked up and i thought i was having a nightmare and we both got up and frank came downstairs and i said what happened? i said there's a car in my living room from.s

>> wow, pat is fine, her husband and dog are fine. the driver was taken to the hospital and should be fine, too. the house not so good. no homes involved in this accident, but a big mess nonetheless. a tractor trailer overturned on the outer loop of the beltway at the baltimore washington parkway. we're told two people were taken to the hospital when it was all over. the truck spilled 150 gallons of diesel fuel. crews have been cleaning it up now. right now all outer loops are open, lanes are open, that is, but traffic is still backed up. yesterday we told you about a woman convicted on domestic abuse charges for repeatedly assaulting her ex-boyfriend. today a d.c. judge sentenced karen young to 180 days in jail, but all but seven days will be suspended. so she's not going to spend very much time behind bars. young will also serve one year of probation and undergo mental health evaluations and assessments and be tested for

drugs and alcohol. still to come on 9news iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad lashes out at israel while addressing the united nations today. >> is your utility bill about to go up? pepco wants to jung your rates and some folks aren't too happy -- jump up your rates and some folks aren't too happy about that. >> and right after the break remembering entertainer andy williams.

♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ >> you got to be old like me to have remembered andy williams' variety show and tonight we remember andy williams. his publicist confirms the iconic entertainer died at the age 84. williams got his first big break on steven allen's tonight show. eventually he did get that tv show of his own it. lasted nine years. guests included tony bennett, ray charles, the osmond brothers. williams continued to perform nearly until the day he died. a contract controversy at pepco, tonight we should know whether workers will vote for or against a labor contract. right now we're learning whether pepco will be allowed to increase its rates for millions of customers. our bruce johnson is live from the public commission service headquarters where the rate meeting just ended. >> reporter: the meeting was broken up by demonstrators.

here is what the public service commission decided. pepco is asking for roughly $40 million in rate increases, roughly $5 per residential customer. here's what they got. they got some $24 million in rate increases or a $2.60 per residential customer and there was a disruption almost immediately a group calling itself one d.c. calling this meeting to come to a halt. look at this tape. >> pepco shouldn't have got a penny! they don't pay their fair share in taxes. they don't hire residents in washington d.c. they fail to handle the infrastructure they're working for. ly my hands up. -- i had my hands up. >> reporter: this group one d.c. started protesting earlier in the day. they demonstrated outside the wilson building. then they went inside where the

mayor task force was meeting that is studying how and what it's going to cost to put power lines underground. they disrupted that meeting as well. it was expected this bring their protest here and they did. again to repeat, though, the public service commission has not granted pepco the full roughly $40 million in increases it was asking for. they are giving the public utility company $24 million, roughly $2.60 per residential customer. with me right now and we've been talking is herb harris who is with the d.c. consumer coalition board, which is a citizen nonprofit group. tell me what you think, 24 million, too much, too little or just about right? >> too much. they actually requested more in maryland and got less, requested less in d.c. and got more. d.c. doubled pepco's rate in maryland and in drink drink --

in district of columbia it was equally as bad as it was in maryland. they should not have gotten a rate increase double that of the state of maryland. >> reporter: however, i did get these documents which i'm going over as we stand here and the public service commission found that pepco does have a deficiency of revenue of some $14 million. then overall deficiency of 24 million which would explain what they're being allowed to charge. >> pepco doesn't have a deficiency in cost or revenue. they have been one of the highest dividend paying corporations in this area. they have significant labor unrest with the critical employees that are important to keeping the system viable and functioning properly. we don't think based on performance that they should have gotten a double rate increase in the district of columbia. >> reporter: hold on. can you get in here quickly. give me your name, please. >> i am son -- sondra frye.

>> reporter: your job is to represent the users. what do you think of the $2.60 pepco will be allowed to add to the residential bill? >> the commission has just granted them almost 60% of what they originally requested. this will be a burden on d.c. consumers. pepco puts forth a bad case. based upon the record presented to the commission, i don't understand how they awarded them that much money. >> reporter: i think it's fair to say pepco didn't have a lot of friends down here today who weren't on pepco's payroll and again they decided not to comment. they want to study the matter and get back to us later. everybody from the pepco hierarchy was inside that meeting, so let's go back to you guys. an extreme skier from california is among the survivors of a deadly avalanche in the himalayas. >> probably one of the luckiest people in the world at the moment. >> especially when you hear why he says that. glenn flake and his friends were planning to ski mount

minuslu in nepal. he was in his tent reading a bible when he heard a loud noise. a wall of snow swept away all the tents and people in them and that avalanche hurledded him 1,000 feet down the -- hurled him 1,000 feet down the mountain. injured and barefoot he punched his way out of the tent to find the others, but he didn't find any. >> you're doing everything you can because you know your friends' lives depend on your actions and unfortunately everything i did produced nothing. so at that point i had to start thinking about my own life. >> the camp looked like a war zone when rescue crews arrived to fly him and the other survivors out, but authorities say there's little hope of finding anybody else alive. >> that's true. they say after 45 minutes your odds go way down. >> he was barefoot. he's lucky he's okay. >> avalanches can move like 100 miles an hour. it's big time stuff. all right, like summer here. >> even a little humid actually. >> i was wondering if you were going to go there.

>> i noticed that. >> but you're still comfortable. >> i'm comfortable still because it's not hot. >> let's start with the michael and son weather cam. 80 3 , winds southwest at 11, dew points in the upper 50s, not too bad, but a little more humid than it has been as derek correctly pointed out. big picture now, radar and lightning combined and we see most of the showers through pennsylvania back into ohio and this is because this is where the front is. the front is further north than we thought it would be by this time yesterday. so consequently, the showers are a little further north. so we're good through the evening commute. it will be dry through the evening commute. we'll keep the chance of a shower or thunderstorm in till midnight primarily north of town. 81 great falls now, 80 in fairfax, 81 in arlington, 85 college park, 82 in bowie. so the front will hang around a while, some storms are possible tonight.

it stays mild. shower or thunderstorm is possible again thursday and we raise temps thursday a little bit and showers linger into friday, not enough to change your plans. i think all the high school football games will be fine. 5:15 tonight, the showers are further north than this. we get another batch 10:00 or 11:00, that's the best chance of a shower or thunderstorm from frederick, maybe to leesburg and then that's probably it. most of the showers kind of hug the mason dixon line. we'll see sunshine as we get into the morning hours and also into the afternoon hours, but because the front will sink slowly south tomorrow, it's going to be fairly unstable, we still run the risk of a shower or storm thursday afternoon and evening. tonight shower or thunderstorm possible till midnight, breezy, mild, 58 to 64, winds southwest 10 to 15. tomorrow morning returning partly sunny and mild, maybe a shower, 50s and 60s. i think most of the commute will be dry. by afternoon, well, partly sunny and warm, shower or t-

storm possible, high temperatures around 80, winds trying to turn northeasterly at 5 to 10. next three days keep it code green. we've got still warm conditions tomorrow, maybe a storm 80 and a few showers friday, 78 and a few showers on saturday, 74. should be okay for the game actually up in baltimore. the ravens should be in pretty good shape. the next seven days we're looking at temperatures slowly going down a little bit, low to mid-70s saturday and sunday, some showers, yes, but it's still okay. i wouldn't change your tee times. the nats are back in town monday, low 70s. temps warm up a little bit tuesday and wednesday. we will be back in a minute. stay tuned.

coming soon to a dealership near you, cars that drive all by themselves. california has now become the first state in the nation to allow the autonomous automobile. governor jerry brown signed the bill into law yesterday. this one is designed by internet giant google. the team of developers has been testing a fleet of prius models equipped with computers and sensors allowing them to literally drive themselves. there's a lot of questions left to be answered, as you can

imagine. >> the self-driving car runs a red light and gets nabbed by the camera, who gets the ticket? >> whoever owns the car i would think, but we'll work that out. that's going to be the easiest problem to work out. >> self-driving cars do not run red lights. >> although rules regulating self-driving cars are on the way, the cars are still in development. experts say they could be available at dealerships in the next decade or so. >> that's a talker for sure. >> as long as they're not priuses because if they are, no way. back by popular demand what we're just saying about the replacement refs. >> and arnold's explosive new book about his affair. >> reporter: president ahmadinejad spoke inside the united nations while protesters were outside.

ahmadinejad does not represent us all. >> middle east leaders taking center stage once again at the united nations wednesday. egypt and iran's presidents addressed unrest in their region and called for world cooperation. we this the latest from the u nations in new york. >> reporter: -- from the united nations in new york. >> reporter: egypt's newly elected president mohammed

morsi praised his country. >> today every egyptian shares his sense of self-confidence. >> reporter: he called for the world to step in to end the violence in syria. >> we all have to move the world over to put an end to this tragedy. it is the tragedy of the age. >> reporter: iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad challenged the dominance of world powers in his final address at the u.n. the united states and israel have pledged to do what they must to prevent tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. >> translator: continued threats by the uncivillized zionists to resort with military action against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality. >> reporter: u.s. leaders chose not to attend in part because it occurred on yom kippur, one of the holiest days on the israeli calendar. >> ahmadinejad again does not

represent us all. >> reporter: iranian americans from across the country joined the protests. >> we send a message that the people of iran stand for democracy, political purism, human rights, secular nonnuclear iran. >> reporter: during his speech ahmadinejad did not directly address his country's nuclear program, but he did say his nation was committed to peace. today we're just saying all the stuff you've been talking about all week long, we've got anita, lesli and jc hayward. so let's get to the story everybody is talking about, those darn nfl refs. we're just learning they apparently have a tentative deal to fix the strike that's been getting on everybody's nerves. jc, what do you think? >> they stink. they need to be sent to see beery arks not only sent off the -- siberia, not only sent off the field. i mean come on. >> when you pull them from

leagues like the lingerie football league, what do you expect? what are you going to get? this is a classic quintessential example of you get what you pay for. >> but many of them were fired for incompetence from the lingerie league and we got them in the nfl. they look like they're a pop warner football team. >> it's time for a settlement. >> i'm in favor of the lingerie league quite frankly. >> who knew there was a lingerie football league? >> i could tell you the whole story, but we don't have time. let's move on to arnold schwarzenegger because he's got a new tell all book about how he became a big time operator and had sex with the maid. it's part of what he told lesley stahl on 60 minutes. >> maria is wishing me well with everything that i do. >> has she read it? >> no. at this point she hasn't read anything. >> but she knows you're discussing -- >> she knows that it's about my whole life and that i would not

write a book and kind of leave out that part and make people feel like well, wait a minute. i was just getting a book about this success stories and not talk about the failures? that's not the book i wanted to write. i wanted to write the book about me, here's my life. >> lesli, is it likely maria shriver is wishing him well at this point? >> let's just say it. he is the worst kind of baby daddy because he's the kind of person that -- >> scumbag. jerk. >> who has this kind -- who thinks about the kind of deception -- >> only a mother can love. >> where you can have an affair with someone who works in your house. >> with the maid. >> and you know that your wife has to interface with this person that you know you had an affair with every single day? >> the woman that cleans his wife's toilet. >> to me it's really profiting over somebody's pain. why do we need to read about that? >> let me go to anita because we already know what jc thinks.

>> i think we do. >> love child. >> why the book? you've already gone through this divorce. your ex-wife is the most gracious individual and has let this go. now you have to put it in a book? really? >> i hope he doesn't find marie -- he better hope doesn't find maria in derek alley one night. the new york city schools making the morning after pill available to girls 14 years old and their parents don't have to know about it. we've talked about this, anita. you hate the idea. >> i think it really steps over a boundary and i am all for women being able to have the choices and medications and all the things they need for family planning. these are not women. these are children and to sidestep the parents and not to even let them know. what if that child is in maybe an abusive sexual relationship and comes to you for plan b? as a mom don't you think i might

want that on my radar? you really are sidestepping parents here in an egregious way. >> let's just get to the brain development. we know that adolescents and their brains aren't even fully developed at this point, not until their 20s and 30s. we're saying we trust you to make the best decisions about your body when we know that you don't have the capacity to make those kinds of decisions as young people and really if we're not there as their guides, we're not doing our part. so i really think that this is going way too far. >> so what about the question of parents who are not trying to help their daughters deal with issues of birth control and contraception at such a young age? what about those kids who don't have anywhere to go to talk about these issues? you don't think the schools can step into that role here? >> planned parenthood. >> i think when it comes to that, you're right, derek, not everybody can go to their mom or to their father or to their family member to talk about

this and i suppose the school district is trying to work to try to bring down teen pregnancies even though they are at record lows, but we do know that teens are going to have sex. they always have. they always will and we need to do what we can to protect them. what we don't need to do is have them making even more decisions about themselves that are uninformed which create things that they can't predict down the line that can impact their welfare, their health and their lives. >> well said, ms. foster. finally a father admitted on his parenting blog that he does indeed have a favorite kid and, in fact, he says he's not ashamed to admit it. he says, by the way most of you parents have favorite kid and you should admit that you have a favorite, too. since anita is the only one here with more than one kid, do you have a favorite kid? >> no, no. >> of course she does. >> she won't say it. >> you don't have to admit it, but do you have a favorite?

>> i have three kids. two are boys and one is a girl. the thing that is toughest is when you have those gender differences. a mom can relate to her daughter at times when she can't with her sons and the other thing that this blogger said, you may like different kids at different stages in their life. my 15-year-old when he was a toddler was lovely. i'm sure he's going to be fantastic as a young adult. so no, it's not -- >> pirate now he's not the favorite -- right now he's not the favorite is. that what you're saying? >> i love him in a special ma manufacture a teen way. >> and i have a little girl -- mama of a teen way. >> and i have a little girl and an active younger boy. i think you love them differently. >> i have one. you have two dogs which might as well be your children do. you like sasha or solomon more? >> sasha loves me more than solomon. my girl loves me more. >> really? they jump all over you.

>> solomon, i thought i was going to have to put him in the casket with my mother because he loved her so much. so i think that all parents, i do think they have favorite child at different times, but you don't say it. >> you can't take those words back. those words will always be throughout and imagine what it's like for the favorite -- out there and imagine what it like for the favorite child and the not so favorite child. what's that going to do to her dynamics? >> they guess that -- their dynamics? >> they guess that about themselves. >> i was both my parents' favorite and my sister and brother had to deal with that. take it away, top. >> i have a favorite younger daughter, favorite middle daughter, favorite older daughter. that's the way you do it. here's the pollen count, same as yesterday, low for trees and mold spores, but grasses and weeds are in the medium range. we've got sunshine now but a cold front on our doorstep. we'll talk about the threat of

thunderstorms in a bit. >> plus how long have you been at your job, five years, 10 years? heck, that is nothing compared to this guy. he's been at his whole life punching the same clock and he's got a pretty amazing story coming up. >> and a major book retailer is about to heat up the competition with two new tablets. that's next.

a new player in the tablet world leads tonight's consumer news. barnes & noble has unveiled two new hd nook tablets to compete with apple and amazon main and 9-inch version, include a video streaming service, scrapbook service and a home stream. they will hit the market in early november. staples is going to move most of its office stock online. the retailer will speed up plans to close 30 stores and scale down an additional 30 in the country. the company wants to put more focus on expanding its products for business customers. staples has struggled as computer sales have dropped and more businesses use tablets and mobile devices. u.s. airlines raked in a record $1.7 billion on baggage fees. that's just in the first six months of the year. delta airlines hauled in the

most, $40,030,000,000. airlines, of course, began charge -- $430 million. airlines back charging us all back in 2008. check your credit score twice. a consumer financial protection bureau study of 200,000 credit reports found one in five of us are likely to get a dramatically different score and that can affect the terms and type of loans we get. the cfpb says it doesn't know which score a lender uses and how it jives with the report that you may buy from the credit bureaus. still ahead on 9news more on the possible end of that nfl referee lockout. >> talk about serving your country, this man's dedication is not going unnoticed. we're there as his co-workers celebrate a huge milestone. we'll be right back.

he's called a hero, an icon, a role model for federal employees. today navy workers sarcas cattagin celebrated a career truly a lifetime, 70 years of military and civil service. 89-year-old sarcas cattigan is waiting for the bus, yes, 89. every day he takes public transportation to the navy yard. what's the best part of your job? >> when you're fully occupied. >> reporter: he's been occupied with the military since 1942 as a junior radio aircraft inspector in philadelphia. now in washington he oversees billions of dollars as the associate director of small business. >> well, i guess there isn't much left to say. i've said it all. >> reporter: to honor his seven decades of service, the navy yard took a moment to officially recognize his commitment and work ethic.

>> this is what dad has been working towards. he's just one year leads into the next before. you know it, it's 70 years. >> reporter: mr. t as he's better known in the building doesn't plan on retiring any time soon. his colleague says when the time comes, he'll be hard to replace. >> every day i'm amazed when he gets in and he will be 90 next month. i commend him for all he does. >> congratulations. i'm impressed. excellent speech. >> congratulations. >> thanks. it's a feeling that you're accomplishing something. you're worth something. you're a part of something. >> reporter: more than something. a legacy of service. at the navy yard, 9news. >> smiles all around. he called in sick once when he suffered a heart attack. after a quadruple bypass surgery mr. t says he feels all right. if he does retire, he would like to be somewhere with mild

weather. any recommendations, top? >> arizona is always good. i kind of like the metro and its variety. here's futurecast, mostly showers and storms north of us. we can see a shower or storm by 9:00, 10:00, even toward 11:00 between garrett raring and frederick. for the most -- gaithersburg and frederick. for the most part the commute will be dry. you'll need your shades tomorrow and your umbrella. the front is still north of us thursday evening. so consequently we are still looking at the chance of a shower or thunderstorm pretty much through thursday. next three days we'll keep it code green. looking at temperatures around 80 tomorrow, thunderstorm still possible, a few showers friday, 78, but not that bad and a few showers saturday, 74, not a bad saturday, especially compared to what we had earlier in the week. next seven days, sunday some showers possible. then we finally get some drier air in here, low 70s on monday, nats back in town and mid- to

upper 70s by tuesday. wednesday ravens in town tomorrow, mild but a couple showers are possible. the potential end of the nfl referee lockout has been all we've been talking about today and it appears that the two sides are at least close to a deal. kristen berset has more on the big news today. >> we're definitely closer to seeing this mess come to an end than say a week ago. joining me now in studio a man who has been extensively covering the lockout gary mahokis from usa today. let's start with monday's game, the call at the end of the seattle/green bay game. is it fair to say that was the tipping point to force their hand to speed up the negotiations? >> it was a pretty crazy sunday and i think that might have been enough, but that was the last game of the weekend, the last play and i think it pretty much was the last straw. >> we have had two, almost three coaches already fined from this weekend. so if that didn't do it, then

yes, this catch definitely would have pushed that. where do they stand right now? >> well, there are good hints of progress, but as we've seen in these disputes in the past, it's never a deal till it's done and they have had significant issues with things like their pensions, their pay, their working conditions. hopefully they will iron out a lot of things and they'll be signing on the dotted line in a few days. >> whether they're back this weekend or next weekend or whatever, we pretty much know they're coming back, but in regards to the real refs, they're not perfect either. we've heard for years players always complaining about calls they made or missed. so if they come back, they're going to be under the microscope. i feel like players can't complain as much as they used to. i don't know how you feel about the situation when the real refs come back. >> i think when they do come back, they'll be greeted like old lost friends. i think we'll want to hug them

and then i think that will be over the first time they throw a flag we don't like and we and the players and the coaches will be on their backs again. i think the good thing is we'll be stirred up about those kind of things, not the fact that they incorrectly spotted the ball and gave somebody a 27- yard penalty instead of a 15- yarder. >> if they come back this weekend, that doesn't affect the ravens and browns. they play tomorrow night. they still have to ask the replacement refs is. that unfair for them? >> well, i was thinking about that. i watch a lot of golf. i always think it's unfair in when a golfer plays in morning in lousy conditions and other guys go out in the afternoon when scoring is easy, but hey fair, who cares? you've got to live with it. as far as complaining as you mentioned, that's getting expensive. bill belichick and john fox, kyle shanahan were hit in the pocketbooks and maybe it could be one last night of farewell

for the replacements before they head off to small college football. >> maybe if they just played the game the way it's supposed to be played and they don't have to leave it up to the refs. gary, we appreciate you coming in. you'll be on top of this. thanks so much. >> thank you. coming up on 9 news now at 7:00 some call it hateful. others claim they're exercising free speech rights. in any case, the controversial new posters in the new york subway are being ripped off the walls. we have details just ahead. >> it shares its name with the presidential candidates, the republican presidential candidates, but not everyone is a fan. bruce leshan has more on a spirited debate in romney, west virginia. >> plus thyroid cancer, the fastest growing cancer among women, symptoms many miss in our health alert just ahead.

september is thyroid cancer awareness month. we've got to tell you the diagnosis of this condition is growing in big numbers. we focus on a virginia woman whose battle is still going on with thyroid cancer. >> i had symptoms which i didn't realize were symptoms. >> symptoms that bobby stifftar of springfield first blamed on an aging body. >> i had pain in my joints. i was always cold. the hair on my eyebrows was

falling out. >> a routine visit to her cardiologist revealed low t4 levels initially sparking concerns of an underactive thyroid gland. tests revealed later what she had was papillary thyroid cancer, the most common form. thyroid cancer is the fastest growing malignancy among women. symptoms can be mild, trouble breathing, chronic coughing and difficulty swallowing can all point to the thyroid. >> most people who come in with thyroid cancer who come through my door don't have many symptoms at all. someone just incidentally found a nodule. >> early detection is the key to beating it, which is why bobby is dedicated to raising awareness about this silent danger. >> we that know thyroid cancer is caused by radiation in a lot of instances, but a lot of the cancers we have now a days for thyroid cancer, we don't know what the cause is. >> bobby will know next month

if the cancer is completely gone, but even if it's not, she says she's ready to face it with fortitude. check out thyca.org for a wealth of treatment information. this is news. it wasn't as much as they wanted, but pepco officials were granted a controversial rate hike in the district today and the move came despite some angry protests at the wilson building and at the public service commission or safety commission in northwest washington where our bruce johnson is live with more. >> reporter: everybody knows why it's so controversial because the power outages, trees down, it seems like this happens after every storm here. a lot of people showed up at the public service commission offices who felt pepco shouldn't get a dime.

pepco is asking for $42 million which comes to roughly $2.60 per residential customer. the public service commission didn't give them anything close. they gave them $24 million let's take a listen to some of the demonstrators inside who tried to disrupt this meeting. >> i had my hand up. i feel like i'm being roned. i have my hands up -- robbed. very my hands up. you want the last penny. so since you want the last penny, take a penny. >> in this increase how much is a customer going to be looking at in terms of more monthly on average? >> 8 1/2 cents a day, $2.60 a month. >> we haven't had a chance yet to review the order. it was just read to us. we want to take an opportunity this evening to review it and we'll have our comments accordingly. >> reporter: they actually requested more in player and got less, requested less than d.c. and